Speculation about Republic of Ireland and Boro player of the year Randolph – with reports claiming interest from Stoke City and West Ham – has led to speculation about how much 32-year-old is worth on the open market with two years left on his contract.

“Randolph may be the only player that they get serious offers for at a price that represents a real profit on what they paid,” writes the Gazette's Boro reporter Anthony Vickers.

“It may be they need to sacrifice him in order to create wriggle-room for a rebuild.”

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He adds: “If that Butland deal went through it would raise the benchmark for Championship keepers dramatically. And if Stoke then came knocking on the Riverside door Boro would be well placed to set a high price tag.

“If West Ham - or another bottom half Premier League team - then again, they would be a good position to go high.

“So you would think the benchmark would be in the region of £10m down with performance clauses (avoid relegation, win promotion, qualify for Europe, number of clean sheets etc) that would another £2m or so. That doesn’t sound unreasonable.

“For a Championship side lit would be a massive outlay, even a well-wadded one like Stoke, Butland windfall or not. But the Premier League sides can afford it. The bottom half would consider that a reasonable investment in a number one.”

Nathan Jones has spelled out that he wants three keepers challenging for the gloves. He also has Adam Federici but has released Jakob Haugaard.

So, for £10m, is this a realistic whisper?

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